PLAN Incentives for low-income housing

housing or commercial project.

Allowing that money to be spent elsewhere, particularly in low-income areas that lack parks, will boost social equity across San Diego, city officials say.

At least 50 percent of the money would have to be spent in low-income “communities of concern.”

City officials also said in recent interviews that they

have made several adjustments to the proposal this fall in response to community feedback.

“We’ve accepted a boatload of feedback,” said Almis Udrys, the city’s chief assistant operating officer under outgoing Mayor Kevin Faulconer.

The proposal has been endorsed by the San Diego Planning Commission and the City Council’s Land Use and Housing Committee. The City Council is scheduled to approve it on Monday.

The new incentive aiming to spur construction of more low-income housing near transit would be the largest developer incentive for such housing the city has ever approved, officials said.

Among recent changes to the proposal are safeguards against gentrification of lowincome areas, and a requirement that city officials closely monitor the impact of the overall proposal so they can amend it if it leads to overbuilding.

Officials have also adjusted the criteria the city will consider when approving parks, such as whether the park will have a shade and an adequate tree canopy.

To prevent gentrification, the proposal includes a measure that would prevent upscale new development from displacing existing residents.

In some cases, developers would also be required to analyze the incomes of nearby residents and agree

to rent restrictions.

Another criticism of the proposal is the lifting of building height limits in some circumstances.

Officials said that would only be allowed in transit areas where high-density projects are being encouraged, and particularly tall buildings won’t be allowed directly adjacent to singlefamily neighborhoods.

San Diego’s goal is having dense projects built near transit and existing infrastructure, to help reduce the congestion that comes with sprawl and to help the city meet the greenhouse gas reduction goals of its climate action plan.

The complete communities proposal also incorporates new state laws, including

legislation that requires traffic evaluations of proposed developments to be based on how many miles typical residents will have to travel by car to work.

Before the new law, SB 743, housing projects were evaluated by the impact they would have on nearby traffic congestion. The city proposal makes it easier for developers to comply with the new law, officials said.

While the parks component of the new law would be binding citywide, the housing and mobility components are only incentives that developers can choose to embrace or reject.

Mike Hansen, the city’s planning director, said city officials expect the incentives to appeal primarily to

developers of smaller-scale projects and subsidized projects for low-income residents.

Mayor-elect Todd Gloria said Friday he supports the goals of the complete communities proposal, but he has some concerns about the changes to height limits and some other elements.

Gloria said that if the council approves the proposal Monday, he and the new City Council could eventually repeal or adjust parts of it in the future if problems arise.

Monday’s council meeting is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. It can be livestreamed on the city’s website, sandiego.org.

david.garrick@sduniontribune.com